Week of 4/27/18
Dear Parents,
This week has been busy with International Nightpreparation and there has been a lot of story making. The children have started painting the flags of Australia to hang up on the wall. The easel has been busy with children painting fish and starfish for the coral reef. The children who have done research are now starting to create their animals. The children have been excited to pick the colors of paint they want to use and to see what they create.
The chains and golden bead materials have been used quite a bit this week and the children have enjoyed working together on these activities. Because the children have been so excited to work together we have been discussing how to quietly work with a friend. Sometimes the children’s voices have become louder while they are working together and they need reminders to use a softer voice.
We finally have some nice weather outside and the children have been enjoying playing outside in it! The children get to play outside before and after lunch and at the end of the day. The kindergarteners who do mileage club have been excited to run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Some of them have already earned a toe tag! They earn a toe tag for every 5 miles they run. They get to run after lunch with the kindergarteners from the other primary classrooms. It is exciting for them to be able to do mileage together.
Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for reading!
Ms. Rachel, Ms. Erin & Ms. Britanie
Week of 4/20/18
Happy 5th Birthday to Charlie and Happy 4th Birthday to Lily! They both were able to celebrate their birthdays in the class with us. Fun fact is that they share the same birthday of April 10th!
I would like to thank Ed Smith (Harper’s grandpa) for coming in to our school and teaching our kindergartners about motion. P2 and P3 gathered together to learn about how things move. They were each given a “puck” (a jar lid) and were asked to push the puck across a large sheet of paper. They were asked to pay close attention to the path the pucks took and then recorded the path using markers on the large paper. They looked at each other’s paths and talked about the similarities and differences.
The children were then asked to draw a target on the paper and try to get their pucks to land on it. They discussed how their body moved as they pushed the pucks and what the pucks did. The children were very excited to answer questions on what they thought motion was and to share what happened when the pucks were pushed. There will be a part 2 in the upcoming weeks to extend on this topic.
This week we started to paint coral for our coral reef. The children were all very excited to see how the paintings would turn out. Many of the children were able to participate and the children who didn’t get an opportunity to paint will in the upcoming weeks. If any parents are interested in helping the children create materials for International Night during school, just let me know!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Ms. Rachel, Ms. Erin & Ms. Britanie
Week of 4/13/18
Dear Parents,
This week Dylan and Maximus counted the 1000 chain and completed it on their own! They were so proud to complete the lesson with little or no help from an adult!
When you think of all the work the children do to get ready for the 1000 chain it is a great accomplishment! First the child works with numbers 1-10, learning the symbols and how to slowly count each quantity. Next, it’s working with the teens, numbers 11-19, learning to count each bead one at a time without skipping any. The child also learns the symbols and matches them to quantity.
Once the teen work has been mastered, the child will work on the tens board. Many times I see children work hard to understand how numbers move to the next set of tens (19 to 20, 29-30, etc.) and with practice they are able to understand this process so clearly depicted by the materials.
After the work with the tens, the child is given the 100 chain lesson where they practice counting by tens. This is indirect preparation for squaring. The 100 chain also helps the child understand that the 100 chain is made up of tens. After the child can successfully count the 100 chain they start work with the short chains which range from 1 to 9. These short chains represent 1-9 squared. The child then gets to practice the 1000 chain, which also is counted by tens. The 1000 chain is indirect practice for cubing.
It is wonderful to see all the work the children put in to these math lessons and watch their excitement as they realize what they have accomplished.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Ms. Rachel, Ms. Erin & Ms. Britanie
